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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30016329">Cats of the Samegawa</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato'>artikgato</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cats, Established Relationship, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:00:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,754</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30016329</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The cats on the Samegawa were finally starting to warm up to him. He supposed, with a wistful sigh, that with Souji gone back to Tokyo they’d finally lowered their standards.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cats of the Samegawa</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My New Years' Resolution this year was to write at least 500 words per day, and one day I had writer's block on basically all the projects I'd been working on and decided to just write a short little one-shot to hit my goal.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cats on the Samegawa were finally starting to warm up to him. He supposed, with a wistful sigh, that with Souji gone back to Tokyo they’d finally lowered their standards. It probably helped that he was feeding them regularly. He’d promised Souji that he’d take care of them in his absence. </p><p>He didn’t feed them fish like Souji had, but he also had normal hobbies unlike Souji who had spent many an afternoon and evening catching fish to feed to the cats. He bought cat food whenever it was on clearance at Junes and carried a small bag of it around with him. Apparently Souji had been known to carry around canned fish and meats for them, but Yosuke wasn’t quite at that level yet. Souji could pull off being the kind of person that carries around tins of meat for cats; Yosuke definitely <em>could not</em>. The dry kibbies were pushing it, honestly. Then again, Yosuke mused, Souji could be just about any kind of person and get away with it.</p><p>He was just glad the cats had finally started warming up to him. Petting them and playing with them was relaxing, and it made him feel a little less lonely. It was stupid, but it made him feel better if he could hang out with the cats on days when he knew he couldn’t bother Souji because he was busy. Sure, Yosuke still had his other friends, but none of them were able to fill the void left behind by Souji. That was a sentiment they all had in common. Yosuke was the only one that turned to feeding cats to try to stave off the loneliness. Chie doubled down on her training, Yukiko threw herself into her work at the Inn, Rise would go shopping in Okina, Kanji would churn out increasingly adorable little plush animals, Naoto would bury herself in a book, and Teddie would amp up his flirting with the housewives at Junes. Yosuke wondered what Souji did. He probably just studied harder.</p><p>Before Souji, Yosuke would turn to music and video games to stave off his own feelings of loneliness. He still did, of course, but it was nice to have another outlet. A cute, warm, furry outlet, like the calico that was currently asleep in his lap while her kittens all crowded around the pile of kibbies he’d laid out for them. This was nice. He already knew that his parents weren’t going to allow an animal in their house. (The irony that they so readily adopted Teddie, though…) Or, at least, not something like a cat or a dog. He’d posed the question of maybe getting a frog as a pet and they’d mostly just been surprised that he was interested in a frog of all things. Oh well, there wasn’t a pet store in Inaba. Maybe he’d check the next time he went to Okina. Or maybe he’d just get a little net and go frog catching in the rainy season. He could probably ask if he could use the one Souji had left behind — a relic of yet another one of his Partner’s weird hobbies.</p><p>The calico was startled enough to wake up but too comfortable to move when Yosuke’s phone suddenly rang. He was pleasantly surprised to see “Partner” on the screen and eagerly answered.</p><p>“Hello?” he asked.</p><p>“Hey, Yosuke. I got done with the exam,” Souji said on the other side of the line.</p><p>“Oh, good!” Yosuke replied.</p><p>“Sorry to basically ban you from texting me but I knew it was the only way I’d be able to focus on it,” Souji said. He really did sound remorseful. Yosuke laughed.</p><p>“I get it, man, I get it. I’d be offended if it was just me texting, but you text me just as often,” Yosuke accused. “Like the pictures of those cats you sent me the other day at like 3am.”</p><p>“They were very cute cats, and it was important that you saw them, Yosuke,” Souji replied. Yosuke laughed.</p><p>“Oh, speaking of cute cats! You’ll never guess who I’m hanging out with,” Yosuke said. “Actually, hang on, gimme a second and I’ll send you a picture.”</p><p>“Huh? Who are you…” Souji’s inquisitive voice trailed off as Yosuke pulled the phone away from his ear. He opened his camera app and managed to snap a picture that showed both the calico still comfortable and content in his lap and also her kittens, who had evidently tired themselves out and were sleeping around and on top of the pile of food.</p><p>“So, remember that calico from last autumn? She had a litter of her own! I think she’s appreciating getting to take a nap while I watch out for her kittens,” Yosuke said. There was the sound of shuffling, and Yosuke couldn’t have possibly missed the audible gasp that Souji made when he saw the picture.</p><p>“She got so big! And the kittens… Yosuke, they’re <em>adorable</em>,” Souji gushed. “So you’re actually taking care of the Samegawa cats for me?”</p><p>“Duh, I promised, didn’t I?” Yosuke replied, mock offense in his tone. “And anyway, they’re… well, they help me feel less lonely.”</p><p>An audible sigh. Souji sounded sad when he replied, after a couple of distressing moments of silence.</p><p>“I wish I had cats around to help me feel less lonely,” he admitted.</p><p>“What about the ones you sent me pictures of at 3am?” Yosuke asked.</p><p>“They live in the alley behind the apartment,” he explained. “And they aren’t around very often. It’s not enough for the people that run this place that nobody can have pets, but they try to run off any strays they find.”</p><p>“That sucks,” Yosuke replied. “Probably just worried about their precious property values or something.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Souji grumbled.</p><p>“Well, you know you can call me anytime you get lonely, Partner. Or, well, I don’t wanna speak for the others but I’m sure none of them would mind either,” Yosuke said.</p><p>“I know,” Souji replied. He still sounded sad. “I know.”</p><p>“And, hey, Golden Week is coming up, right? Listen, if your parents are still being hard-asses and won’t let you come to Inaba, I’ll just come to you in Tokyo. Sound like a plan?” Yosuke asked.</p><p>“Sounds good,” Souji said.</p><p>“And we can go look for cats to pet at 3am,” Yosuke suggested. Souji laughed. “Oh! But you never told me how you did on that test.”</p><p>“I won’t know until it’s graded, of course,” Souji replied.</p><p>“I mean how do you <em>feel</em> like you did?” Yosuke pressed. Souji made a sound that Yosuke knew, after months of learning how to interpret Souji’s sounds, meant that he honestly had no idea.</p><p>“It’s hard to know. I understood the material, but I found it hard to put it into words, and it was mostly an essay exam,” he said.</p><p>“I’m sure you did great, Partner,” Yosuke replied. Souji sighed again.</p><p>“Can you send me more pictures of the kittens?” he asked, and Yosuke laughed.</p><p>“Your wish is my command, Partner!” he said. He pulled the phone away and snapped a few more, leaning over as much as he could without disturbing the mother who was still napping on his lap.</p><p>“Thanks, Yosuke,” Souji eventually said. “They’re so cute. Make sure you bring them lots of food, okay?”</p><p>“Of course,” Yosuke replied.</p><p>“And you know, if you want to borrow my old fishing equipment you can just ask Uncle,” Souji continued. “Fishing really isn’t that hard, and the cats really love— “</p><p>“I’m going to stop you right there, Partner,” Souji interrupted. “These cats are cute and I like you alot but I am <em>not</em> going to start fishing just to feed these cats.”</p><p>“You like me alot, huh?” Souji asked, and only then did Yosuke realize what he’d said. Before he could do anything about it his face was red and he had flinched so hard that he’d nearly dislodged the calico, who gave him a warning meow that made him calm down.</p><p>“You know I do, you jerk. Stop that,” he complained into the phone. Souji was laughing on the other end.</p><p>“I still like you alot too, Yosuke,” Souji said. “Don’t worry. Nobody here in the city has whisked me away from you. ...Yet.”</p><p>“Well, good,” Yosuke said. “I’m glad.”</p><p>“Hey, one more request before we end the call?” Souji asked. Yosuke could almost <em>hear</em> the mischievous smirk in his voice.</p><p>“Oh?” he asked, cautiously.</p><p>“Send me a selfie?” Souji asked.</p><p>“Only if you send me one too,” Yosuke countered.</p><p>“Aw, but the camera on my phone isn’t as good as yours,” Souji lamented.</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. Selfie for selfie or no deal. The cat pictures were free,” Yosuke replied.</p><p>“Fine, fine. We can send selfies after we end the call, all right?” he asked.</p><p>“All right,” Yosuke sighed in response. “Okay. I’d better let you get back to studying or whatever you should be doing instead of talking to me.”</p><p>“I was going to start dinner, it’s no big deal. Finding time to talk to my <em>boyfriend</em> is a very valuable use of my time, you know,” Souji said, and Yosuke felt himself blush like mad again when Souji used the word ‘boyfriend’. It was such a new thing in their relationship, and it managed to hit the ‘blush like crazy’ nerve every single time Souji said it.</p><p>“Just...gah, go get to work on your dinner already!” he exclaimed. Souji laughed.</p><p>“Bye, Yosuke. I miss you,” Souji said.</p><p>“I miss you too, Partner,” Yosuke answered. Souji hung up and Yosuke sighed. His biggest regret of the whole time he’d known Souji was not realizing his feelings and confessing sooner. They’d barely had any time together before Souji left for Tokyo, and now they had to make do with phone conversations and cat pictures and… selfies. Yosuke’s phone dinged, and he opened it to find Souji smiling sweetly at the camera, eyes bright. Souji was not very good at taking selfies. Most of the picture was Souji’s kitchen floor and cabinets and not Souji himself, but Yosuke was so smitten by that little smile that it didn’t matter. He leaned forward a little and fussed with his phone until he’d gotten himself and the calico in the same shot. He knew his own smile paled in comparison to the heart-melting way Souji had been looking at the camera, but he hoped it would be enough.</p><p>Judging by the string of heart emojis he got in response, it indeed had been.</p>
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